151 replies to this topic

[Aravinamy]

Its really hard to do it if you're living with someone else who eats anything they want. When I lived on my own for a month, I was able to eat all healthy low fat foods only because I bought it, cooked it and prepared it. When my boyfriend came back, man, he eats whatever he wants and whenever he wants and this only makes it harder for you to resist the foods and thus give into the temptations. I only lasted eating a veggie diet for a week :( . I love the taste of meat, but I hate the suffering of animals. It is just so hard to do. You just need a really strong will power to stick with it. Once you have stick with it long enough, it won't be so bad... its like exercising, the hard part is getting started.

[smile2374]

Well, now that I acually am vegitarian, I can give you a few tips...
It's easiest to stop eating the meats you dislike most first, then gradually stop eating other meats.
It's hard at first, but if you don't stop it gets easier.

[Hannah]

I am vegan (no animal products), animal products are obtained through death other than the obvious fact that meat is dead other animal products are obtained through cruelty and death. While it is not nearly as bad as eating the direct product of death animals still suffer. Free range meat animals are not truly "free", the U.S Government only requires that the animals spend *some* time outside, it does not have strict regulations for the pen size or amount of time spent outside; the only time they spend outside may only be a short walk to the trasport to slaughter (instead of backing the truck inside the docking area the animals walk outside to reach it). Animals raised for meat spend their short lives in crampted dirty conditions and it not uncommon for workers (at both the raising facility and slaughter house) to abuse and mistreat the animals for entertainment. Most are bled to death while still fully capable of feeling pain. Fish caught in nets are killed by being torn apart when removed from water (this happens when large fish caught in gill nests are pulled up into our atmosphere of gravity and pressure), slowly suffocate, crushed under other fish, disembowled, or bled to death; some suffer for more than 24 hours before dying. It has been proven that fish have complex nerve systems and can feel pain as can lobsters who are boiled and cut while alive. Poultry have their throats slit and are often alive when scalded. If that is not bad enough meat is bad for your health. Studies show that those who eat meat products are significantly more likely to have heart attacks and strokes due to the cholesteral. Fish/seafood contain dangerous cemicals that studies show can contribute/cause cancer. It's main virtue, protein is easy to obtain through nuts, soy, and beans. The large amount cholesteral and fat in meat adds to your waistline. Humans are not properly designed to digest meat, they lack the large canine teeth of true preditors as well as the short intestinal tract, the average old man has 5 pounds of undigested meat in his stomach; a true carnivore/omnivore is able to fully digest meat and does not get health problems as a result of eating it. 75% of our produce is used as feed for meat animals, were we to use it for humans we would have enough food to feed every human on earth; no more starvation. ONE vegitarian save almost 100 animals a year, even though that is not too much difference if everyone thought that they did not make a difference and continued eating meat everyone would be eating meat. For every vegitarian the demand for meat decreases, less animals are produced for slaughter. No demand equals no supply.

[Charmer]

I just want to thank all the vegetarians for saving the animals. I don't eat a lot of meat as it is, but I don't think I could cut off the small intake of it. I'm weak.


The best way to become a vegetarian is to decrease your meat intake months at a time. This way your body grows used to no meat, and accepts it. You do the same thing when losing weight. You get used to avoiding fatty foods.

[50,000_tears]

i restrain myself to 2 hamburger's a month and i only eat eggs seafood and milk products i havent eaten chicken,turkey or pork forever

[missPixy]

earlier in this post, mamagirl mentioned abt "free-range" meat.

if anybody has a Whole Foods market in their area, these places sell free-range meats. this would include beef, chicken, pork.

buying "free-range" is a good alternative way to buy meat, since it hasn't come from an animal who didn't have one happy second in his or her entire life . if you don't feel you can become an herbivore yet, i recommend this approach. you'll at least be making conscious eating choices that are *less* cruel.

free-range eggs can be found in any market, whole foods or not.

[Cheeky]

Ya! I say to my friends that at least the animals do get to live their life. Its not like KFC

[Sweet_Mary]

Concerning converting to vegetarianism, it took me two tries! The first time, I was nine years old, and my family and I were vacationing in our cabin in Colorado. We were eating at a rustic sort of diner, and I had ordered a cheeseburger. I looked up while taking a bite, and, lo and behold, what did I find to be staring me in the face but the mounted head of a moose! It’s big, dark eyes seemed to be alternately judging me for my heartless, carnivorous ways and plaintively begging me to give them up. I pushed my plate away and right then and there declared myself to be a vegetarian. Two nights later, my mother fired up the barbecue (cheeseburgers), and underneath the dual forces of my brother and cousins torments and my own undeveloped will-power, I caved. It was not my proudest moment.

The second time, I was in the seventh grade and I said I was a vegetarian to impress a boy who, by the way, loved to hunt… for sport. Don’t ask for logic. You won’t get any. Well, I figured. “What the heck, I said I was one, so I guess if I’ve either got to become a vegetarian or a liar.” So, I just stopped eating meat. Of course, there was temptation. (The next night, we had Chinese food.) But temptation is great because it gives you a chance to overcome it and become stronger! And being a vegetarian just becomes easier and easier with time, until, without realizing it, you don’t even look at meat as an option, anymore. If there is a meat dish on the dinner table, I’m all but oblivious of it.

My family was not too supportive at first, but once they saw that I was serious about it, they accepted my choice and became very accommodating. It helps when you have people around you who respect you and your decision.

That said, I don’t think that eating meat is unethical. Humans are omnivores. It’s nature – the way we were made. However, the treatment of animals on commercial ranches is unethical. Mass slaughter is unnatural. If someone kills their own food and if that someone is aware of the sacrifice that his/her prey made to nourish him/her and his/her family and if that same someone is duly grateful, I find nothing morally unacceptable in eating meat. But I guess most people would view that as regressing to the Stone Age.

Anyway, I’m glad to see so many vegetarians and conscientious people on this site.


Regards,

Sweet Mary

P.S. – Consider reading Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé. It discusses reasons for becoming a vegetarian outside of the cruelty our potential hamburgers endure, i.e. the fact that it takes sixteen pounds of plant matter to produce one pound of beef (Cows aren't just for eating, they eat, too!), so commercial ranches are partly responsible for world hunger. Also, breeding so many cows is harmful to the environment, et cetera. It also talks about a lot of myths surrounding vegetarianism and what we can do to raise the collective I.Q. concerning the consumption of meat. And then, to top if off, there are recipes upon recipes upon delicious recipes!

P.P.S. - The myth I personally hate the most is that vegetarians have no idea what good food is. I love to cook, and I pride myself on being able to pick out a good recipe or, on occassion, just throw something together. I have a friend whose sole ambition is to become a professional chef, and I am completely convinced he will, too, because he is a dumb-striking, heart-stopping, mouth-watering good cook! He cannot comprehend not eating meat. I'm cool with that, but when he gets it into his head that I somehow do not understand food on the same level as him, I have to groan in frustration.

[D12_Bizzare]

I used to be a veg and I thought I was doing the best thing in the world saving all those cows and pigs ect. but to tell you the truth I hardly eat any vegetables and I thought to my self...how is my body getting nutreints if all I'm eating is pb and j and fruit. I stopped and was EXTREMLY mad at my 'cuz I thought of how many cows and pigs and chicken I'm killing. So I started right back up again.

A few weeks after I started back up I started feeling light-headed and dizzy. I couldn't stand it. I was laying in bed trying to think about why this is happening to me....I had been exersing like I normaly do, then it hit me.... I wasn't getting any nutreints in my body plus, I forgot to add that it was a year befor I started back up,so my deit was was chaging too suddenly.


But I just kept on saying "I have to keep it up, I have to keep it up" but the other side of me was saying why am I doing this to my body.I didn't listien to the right side of my body I kept on being a veg.The next day during lunch I talked to my friends about this whole situation and how I'm getting these weird feelings and how I thought this is all happening because I was a vegitaren and I wasn't getting proper nutrents because I was hardly eating any vegies wich had the nutrints that could sub for the nutrients that were in meat. But my friends just said I was doing a great thing and I was crazy for thinking all that stuff that was happening to me was because I was a veg. They also convinsed their selfs that they could be veg.

Currenly,I not a veg but maby some day I will teach myself to like vegies so I can be a veg and still get the proper nuterients. I will still not use cosmetic products tested on animals.And remember being a veg is a great thing but remember to always get nutrents to sub in for the nutreints that are in meat

THIS ADVICE IS ONLY FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE A VEG BUT HARDLY EVER EAT FOOD WITH NUTREINTS THAT CAN SUB FOR MEAT NUTREIANTS!

[Hannah]

That said, I don’t think that eating meat is unethical. Humans are omnivores. It’s nature – the way we were made.

Humans do not have the "natural" features of a creature ment to eat meat. We can't eat meat without untensils and/or cooking, however we can eat almost all non-poinsonus fruits/vegitables (though they do not taste as good) raw. We can easily bite into plants but humans have a very hard time biting into raw flesh, "natural" carnivores/omnivores are fully capable of hunting and eating flesh without weapons or cooking. A true carnivore/omnivore is also capable of digesting the cholesteral in meat, they have very sharp teeth and short intestinal tracts, by comparison humans teeth are dull and we are incapable of properly digesting meat. The average old man has five pounds of undigested meat in his stomach, a creature ment to eat meat fully digests it. Cholesteral (not present in plants) is dangerous and can even cause deadly conditions in humans, cholesteral builds up in humans arteries constricting blood flow, eventually it can cause a heart attack for lack of blood circulation or the arterie can burst. "Sickness" from vegitarian/veganism is caused by lack of proper nutrition (normally protein) because people fail to eat the proper produce (for example without meat one must consume more dairy and without dairy one must consume more nuts and soy). If you simply cut out meat/dairy without increasing your ingestion of other protein sources you are likely to get sick or lose energy, just from a sudden loss of nutrients. People often use this an excuse for meat being "natural", but the problem is that it is not natural to eat it in the first place, people ho never consume meat (raised without it) have plenty of energy. If you cut out meat but then replace it with products virtually free of protein that is where you will run into trouble (for example if instead of ordering a hamburger at a resterant you become vegitarian and just order french fries than you are not getting protein, if you were to order a vegi-burger [made with soy, high in protein] than you will still get protein). When swiching to vegitarian/vegan diets you have to eat the right products, and you will require more protein than someone who has never had meat during the trasition to produce (ie: lentils, nuts, beans, soy, tofu for vegans or lentils, nuts, beans, soy, tofu, dairy, and eggs for vegitarians).

[Sweet_Mary]

What I base my belief (that humans are naturally omnivores) on is mainly history. In primeval times, when the human race had not yet separated itself from the Earth, we were hunters and gatherers. I think that if we were naturally herbivores, it would not even have occurred to us to eat meat. As far as I know, a cow’s never attempted to eat a field mouse just because she thought it might be a tasty variation from her plant-based diet…

Humans don’t have the same sort of teeth as cows – we have canines. On the other hand, humans don’t have the same sort of teeth as wolves – we have molars. But here’s where it gets confusing: We don’t even have the same sort of teeth as any other omnivore, including apes.

If we were to eat only raw plant matter, like our herbivore friends, the eventual wear and tear on our teeth would be tremendous. Fruits are softer, but they have more sugar and fewer nutrients. Also, the sugars and acids in fruit destroy tooth enamel. Moving away from teeth, down the throat, and into the stomach, digesting raw vegetables and fruits causes an excess amount of uncomfortable gas in the human body. Even unprocessed grains (that is, un-ground) are virtually indigestible to humans, even if we could manage to crush them between our (sorry to say) pathetic, little teeth. Human teeth were not made to rip flesh nor grind raw vegetation and unprocessed grains. So, what do we eat? Cooked and ground food. When vegetables and meats are in their natural, raw state, they are hard for us to chew and digest. The human body (especially the human teeth) evolved to eat all things cooked. We have both pointed canines and flat molars, but none are as capable as those of other animals, so we must tenderize or pulverize our food prior to putting it into our mouths.

Unfortunately, humans can’t seem to figure anything out when it comes to what we should and should not eat, or, rather, how much of each food group we should be consuming. (And it certainly does not help that we're so inordinately concerned with what our bodies look like.) First, we thought grains should be making up the bulk of our diet. Obviously, this is wrong because grains do not contain as many vitamins and minerals as vegetables and fruits nor as much protein as meat. Then, Atkins came along and said that meat should be making up the bulk of our diet. What? Where are all the vitamins and minerals? And it can’t possibly be healthy to be consuming so much cholesterol and fat.

Here's the most logical theory I can come up with: All omnivores have a specialized vegetable to meat ratio that makes up their ideal diet. My turtle needs 60% meat and 40% vegetables and fruits. My hamster, on the other hand, needs more plants and grains than he does meat. It seems to me that the human body would benefit most from a diet centered around diverse (mostly cooked) vegetables and fruits and supplemented by grains and, lastly, meat.

On a philosophical note, all other forms of life, whether plant or animal, are more biologically efficient than humans, and they fit into a cycle, too – a cycle that human beings seem to be removed from. Humans are an odd species, and the question of exactly where we fit in this world seems to become more and more unanswerable as time goes on.


Regards,

Sweet Mary

P.S. – I enjoyed reading your posts in the thread, EBBH. You are very well-read and articulate.

[Hannah]

What I base my belief (that humans are naturally omnivores) on is mainly history. In primeval times, when the human race had not yet separated itself from the Earth, we were hunters and gatherers. I think that if we were naturally herbivores, it would not even have occurred to us to eat meat.As far as I know, a cow’s never attempted to eat a field mouse just because she thought it might be a tasty variation from her plant-based diet. The human body (especially the human teeth) evolved to eat all things cooked. We have both pointed canines and flat molars, but none are as capable as those of other animals, so we must tenderize or pulverize our food prior to putting it into our mouths.

Unfortunately, humans can’t seem to figure anything out when it comes to what we should and should not eat, or, rather, how much of each food group we should be consuming. (And it certainly does not help that we're so inordinately concerned with what our bodies look like.) First, we thought grains should be making up the bulk of our diet. Obviously, this is wrong because grains do not contain as many vitamins and minerals as vegetables and fruits nor as much protein as meat. Then, Atkins came along and said that meat should be making up the bulk of our diet. What? Where are all the vitamins and minerals? And it can’t possibly be healthy to be consuming so much cholesterol and fat.

Here's the most logical theory I can come up with: All omnivores have a specialized vegetable to meat ratio that makes up their ideal diet. My turtle needs 60% meat and 40% vegetables and fruits. My hamster, on the other hand, needs more plants and grains than he does meat. It seems to me that the human body would benefit most from a diet centered around diverse (mostly cooked) vegetables and fruits and supplemented by grains and, lastly, meat.

It does not occur to a cow to eat meat, but humans are an odd (and sometimes more cruel) species. As far as I know slavery and murder have not occured to a cow ,nor to any other animal, as a posibilty. Humans teeth become worn down by some produce but not all of it, many soft parts of a plant are edible to humans (most plants have stems, leaves, and roots that are soft. Humans also have the most flexible hands and fingers of all creatures making it possible that they are made to pick and select these specific edible parts of plants. I have never understood what makes people think that the Atkins Diet is healthy, how does anyone think that replacing calories with fat and cholesteral is going to help them lose weight? I can see a slight loss of weight happening when one cuts out sweets but past that point when vegitables are cutdown people will start gaining weight. The diet founder weighed about 300 pounds when he died, how anyone knowing this fact could mimic his diet is questionable, it is probably an act of desperation to fit public ideal; however it lacks any common sense. My guess is that humans will find out how silly this diet is when in a few decades people are having wispread heart problems. I would think that people started eating meat products when they saw other creatures hunting and eating prey, then kept the practice because they required food and liked the taste. It may have also been a survival tactic in cold regions. "Naturally" (natural for humans at least) we now exploit animals in everyway possible even though it is not nessary, people can live more healthfully without meat but they still use it, they take away (and kill) animals young to produce milk, tourture them because they like the look and feel of fur, hunt them down them for sport and pleasure, and torture them in labs instead of synthetics and culturesm pretty much do whatever we please to animals as long as it makes us happy. If I had to choose between a person and an animal (presuming the person was not a bad person) I would choose the person, if I had to choose between and animal and a human's pleasure I would choose the animal. Thanks for complimenting my grammer, I try pretty hard to use it properly (I have always been taught to pratice proper grammer).

[r twinkletoes]

i became a vegi coz i dint like the thought of eating inisant piggies and that.that meant i d be giving up macdonalds,well most of the food there the only thing i can eat there is a quaurn premiere.some times i get bad cravings if my sister eats a hodgog or a pepperami pizza,which are my fave.by eating the quarn food im losing weight and quarn is very tasty and good for you!but now im ungry all the time!

[r twinkletoes]

im sorry for bringing up an old post, but i want to be a vegetarian as well, the thing is i dont eat much meat as it is, i hate chicken, bacon, pork, beef, and just about any other meat you can think of, UNLESS i know this is bad but i will eat processed meat which is even worse because off additives etc. i am already over weight and i really dont like vegetables either!
so really im stuck!
the reason i am overweight is because i like high carb foods like pasta and bread! i eat bread every day and almost every meal time, i eat pasta almost ever 2 days!
i really cant stand the way animals are treated and this board gave me the idea to try!

thanks
kyle

im not trynna boast but my first try to be a vegi worked out but some thickos from macdonalds broke by saying theyd gave me a vegi burger but gave me a meat buger

[Flaky Luver]

I am a vegetarian, but I still eat seafood. I think it is an addiction...:(